


Angus McDonald and the Dragon's Secret

by marywhale



Category: The Adventure Zone (Podcast)
Genre: Family Bonding, Gen, Humor, Mystery, Post-Canon, Silver Dragon Angus, angus mcdonald would get away with hiding his dragon form too, if it weren't for those pesky wards
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-17
Updated: 2018-05-17
Packaged: 2019-05-08 01:43:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,298
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14683808
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/marywhale/pseuds/marywhale
Summary: Angus McDonald is the world’s greatest detective. Angus McDonald is a little boy. Angus McDonald is a silver dragon. These are all true statements, but the last would be a considerable surprise to everyone who knows him.If only the case he's working didn't involve a tricky set of wards that dispel his shape shifting magic, his secret would be a lot easier to keep under wraps.





	Angus McDonald and the Dragon's Secret

**Author's Note:**

> This fic was written as 1000 follower giveaway gift for Aphaceland over on tumblr, who requested Angus needing to hide his silver dragon secret while working a case! I cannot tell you how much I _love_ this concept. I hope all y'all enjoy!

Angus is thirty feet from the warehouse he’s certain is full of art stolen by Jenny Ness and her gang when everything goes wrong. One minute he’s got his back pressed to the brick wall of the furniture warehouse across from Ness’s hideout, the next he’s five feet taller and wedged into an alley that’s far, _far_ too small for his body. His wings are pinned to his sides so he can’t even just fly _up_ to get out of the uncomfortable and unexpected situation he suddenly finds himself in.

Angus hasn’t taken his dragon form in _years_ and it’s a shock to the system to be thrust into it without his consent.

When he closes his eyes and tries to shift back to his human self, nothing happens.

He huffs out an icy-cold breath and squirms backwards in the little alley, rearing up onto his hind legs to get further from the street. As soon as he makes it a few inches back, everything snaps into place and he’s _himself_ again—human and thirteen and overbalancing, tumbling onto his back in the alley. His arms and sides are scraped to hell where they rubbed against the stone wall, but at least he’s not an inexplicable _dragon_ in the Neverwinter shipping district anymore.

Angus stares at the sky and takes a deep breath, trying to wrap his mind around what just happened.

A spell to reveal someone’s true form, probably. Something stronger than a spell to get rid of glamours or disguise self—anything that makes _him_ shift form is some powerful magic. It’s the kind of enchantment that costs a _lot_ of money, but Jenny Ness has plenty of that.

It’s smart, and Ness is _known_ for being smart. She’s a sorcerer who demands complete loyalty from her people— _or else—_ and her gang is single handedly responsible for two-thirds of the art circulating Faerun’s blackmarket. They can get in and out of any museum or private collection undetected.

Until Angus tracked down one of her fences and followed him to the docks, the militia hadn’t had any solid leads to follow. And this—the warehouse— _isn’t_ solid until Angus can get a good look at the contents of the place and report back. The militia needs more than just his hunch to get a warrant. They need an eyewitness. Angus’s plan had been to sneak in, poke around to confirm this was where Ness kept the art, and then report back.

It was a good plan, except for one tiny, frustrating fly in the ointment— there’s nothing sneaky about a ten foot tall dragon in a two story warehouse.

Angus sits up to look at the building across the street, conspicuously unguarded and now preposterously hard to get into. The building that his _entire_ plan to bring Ness down rests on infiltrating. The building that might as well be on the other side of the world, for how impossible entering is for him.

He scowls and pushes his glasses up his nose and because he's been spending too much time with Taako says: “Fuck.”

*

Angus McDonald is the world’s greatest detective. Angus McDonald is a little boy. Angus McDonald is a silver dragon. They’re all true statements, but one of them would be a considerable surprise to everyone who knows him. It’s not that Angus _meant_ to keeping lying to his friends-cum-family the way he has. He just—did. He’d met everyone in his human form and then there’d just... never been a good time to bring up the fact that he wasn’t _quite_ the little boy he presented himself as.

It’s been _years_ now. It’s too late to tell anyone, and Angus prefers being human anyway. _People_ got to do a lot more than wyrmlings, even when they were little boys. He’d draw a lot of attention to himself if he went around solving mysteries as a dragon.

For this particular case, though, him being a dragon presents… extra complications. He can’t sneak into the warehouse, which means he needs someone to investigate the warehouse _for_ him. Someone who’ll believe he _needs_ help. Who won’t ask too many questions. Who can protect themselves in a fight, if worse comes to worse.

He needs _Taako._

Taako’s not _subtle_ , exactly, but he can be sneaky when he wants to be. Magnus, even with his rogue training from Carey, isn’t the _best_ at that. Plus, Magnus would ask questions. So would Lucretia and Killian and Carey and Captain Davenport—Lup and Barry too, probably. Merle wouldn’t agree to come to Neverwinter to check out a warehouse for him unless Magnus and/or Taako were also involved.

Taako, on the other hand, will buy that Angus wants his help and he’s more than capable of defending himself. He’s perfect for the job, except Angus also has to _convince_ him.

“I’ve been working this tricky case,” he tells Taako, after showing up uninvited at Taako and Kravitz’s apartment and letting Taako make him a sandwich. “Have you heard of Jenny Ness, sir?”

Taako takes a bite of a baby carrot and raises an eyebrow. “Agnes, don’t insult me by pretending you think I pay attention to the Neverwinter crime scene. Taako’s here for the weird, world-ending vore monsters and the jobs that pay well. The mundane bullshit is all you.”

“She runs a gang of thieves,” Angus says. “She has a hideout in the warehouse district, but I don’t know if my magic is advanced enough to get inside yet.”

Taako lowers his carrot and Angus suppresses a smile because he’s got his attention now. “Oh?”

Angus nods and schools his expression into something serious and earnest. He doesn’t want to give the game away by smiling. “I suspect it’s where she keeps the things she steals before she fences them. I need something to bring to the militia so they can act on my hunch, but infiltrating the warehouse is tricky. I’m only on eighth-level wizardry.”

“And you wanna recruit cha’boy,” Taako says, pointing a finger at Angus. “Try and be a _little_ subtler next time, pumpkin.”

“I wasn’t trying to be subtle, sir,” Angus says. “It’s a two person job. Someone needs to keep watch while the other person goes into the warehouse.”

“Sure,” Taako says. “And you want me watching your back.”

Angus nods. There’s a chance that Taako will offer to stand outside and watch him go in, that he won’t volunteer to be the one who takes the bigger risk. Angus knows Taako well enough to know that. He keeps his mouth shut because _asking_ Taako to be the point man on the job is a last resort.

Taako snorts. “Okay, well, that’s fuckin’ ridiculous. I don’t care if you’re the world’s youngest detective or whatever. I’m _Taako_. You know, the, uh, greatest wizard in the _planar system_? You can be the one who sits outside and watches.” He waves a hand. “Besides, sounds like there might be some good stuff in that warehouse and I know _you_ won’t appreciate that properly.”

Angus _does_ let himself smile this time. “Thank you, sir,” he says. “I really appreciate your help.”

*

The papers—especially the tabloids—like to publish long articles on Taako’s wardrobe, but when it comes to missions he’s pretty practical. Still _Taako_ , but in a reasonable way. He teleports to the alleyway Angus arranged to meet in five minutes late, wearing a black catsuit with his hair in a chignon. He looks like Fantasy Vogue dressed him as a cat burglar, but for Taako it’s subtle.

Taako makes a show of stretching his arms above his head, like Angus is going to ask him to rappel down from a skylight and not to sneaking in through a ground floor window. “All right, little man, where we headed?”

Angus points across the street, at Ness’s hideout. “I’ve been here a few hours and nobody’s gone in or out,” he says. “I couldn’t detect any sound or movement inside so I suspect it’s empty. It should be an easy in-and-out. I just need you to look around and take note of any art you see. Maybe investigate crates if there are any? But not if they’re alarmed. We don’t want to tip Ness off and have her run before the militia can swoop in.”

“Uh-huh, sure,” Taako says. “And what, exactly, are we planning on telling the militia I was doing there in the first place? Cha’boy ain’t going down for this.”

Angus is the world’s greatest detective, which is usually enough for the militia to give him a pass. Some of his perps have tried to accuse him of breaking and entering, but Angus is only just now entering the stage where “I’m a little boy” doesn’t work to get him out of those accusations. “You heard a cat,” he says. “Possibly a small child? And they sounded distressed so you want to investigate.”

Taako raises an eyebrow at Angus and—okay, that doesn’t sound like the most Taako-like reason to break into a building, but he’s also _Taako_. The likelihood of someone trying to arrest him now is very slim.

“Okay,” Angus says. “ _I_ heard a cat and I couldn’t reach the window so you went in for me.”

“Still reaching, but better,” Taako says. “I think you’re overestimating your appeal, D’jango.”

“You’re here, aren’t you, sir?” Angus asks.

Taako makes a face and pulls out a wand, twirling it between his fingers. “All right—let’s just get this over with. In, look at the art, then out again. You owe me for this.”

“I do,” Angus agrees, mostly because he knows Taako likes being agreed with. Also a little because it’s true—he couldn’t do this without Taako, the only adult in his life who wouldn’t ask more questions about why Angus _isn’t_ keen to break into a warehouse by himself.

Angus has lived a very unusual life and he’s only thirteen.

“I’ll wait here,” Angus says, pulling out his stone of farspeech. “If anyone comes, I’ll let you know. Do you have your stone?”

Taako pulls back his turtleneck and reaches inside his shirt, fishing out the stone hanging off his neck like a pendant. “Got it,” he says, and taps it to call Angus. “I’ll give you the play-by-play on what you’re missing.”

He crosses the alleyway and Angus sees the exact border where the wards start because as soon as Taako crosses their threshold, his glamour drops. His hair’s not as shiny and his skin is blotchy, ears less perky. If he’s honest, Angus doesn’t really understand why Taako insists on keeping the glamour up at all. Maybe his appearance is a little different, but no curse could take away the core of Taako’s _Taako-ness_.

Angus keeps his mouth shut about the change. He feels bad, but if Taako knew about the reveal spell. he might start wondering why _exactly_ Angus angled to get him to come along for this.

Taako doesn’t go through a window. Taako walks up to the front door of the warehouse, casts Knock, and walks straight in.

Angus suppresses a groan. “Sir,” he whispers, into the stone. “Sir, they could have had an alarm spell on the front door.”

“Probably did,” Taako agrees. “M’not planning on sticking around to do a deep dive here. Gonna be in and out before Nestle shows up to bust us. Don’t worry about it.”

“Ness,” Angus says.

“Yeah,” says Taako. “What did I say?”

Angus did ask for this. He’s the one who wanted Taako’s help above anyone else’s. “What do you see? Anything interesting?”

Taako hums into his stone. Angus can hear the sound of footsteps on a concrete floor over the line as he walks around the warehouse. “Whole buncha crates. No loot laying out in the open, if that’s what you’re asking. I mean, you said these thugs were smart, right? They’re not gonna keep all the shit they stole out for anyone to see.”

“It took me two weeks to track down this warehouse,” Angus says. “It’s not—this _is_ a hidden location. It’s not unheard of that they might have stuff on display.”

“You read too many detective stories,” Taako says. He murmurs something else—a word Angus can’t quite grasp—and there’s a sound of creaking wood, a crate being opened. Then silence.

A long moment of silence.

Angus gives the stone an anxious glance and opens his mouth to ask if Taako’s okay because this isn’t the first time he’s been on one end of a call with Taako and had things go very, very wrong.

“Holy shit, pumpkin,” Taako says, before Angus can say anything. “ _Hoo_ boy—this is a _very_ nice vase your friend stole.”

Angus lets himself relax. “She—she’s a wanted felon and a suspect, sir. Not my friend.”

Taako snorts. “She’s a woman after my own fuckin’ heart. You sure you need _all_ the stolen goods to make it back where it came from? I should be getting paid for this, right?”

Angus does a quick mental inventory of the things he’s pretty sure are in the warehouse. First for vases, then for vases he thinks _Taako_ would admire. “I’m fairly certain that’s a Moonshae lusterware vase, sir,” he says. “It’s eight hundred years old and the Museum of Neverwinter is very keen to have it back.”

“I bet,” says Taako. “They missing a mithril tea service too? Because there’s a fuckin’ mithril teapot in here. Who the fuck drinks tea from _mithril_?”

“Oh,” Angus says. “I, uh, I believe that one’s from a private collector in Waterdeep.”

“Rich motherfucker.” There’s a shuffling sound which might be Taako stealing the teapot. Angus is trying not to think too hard about it.

“I think this is enough evidence to spur the militia to investigate, sir,” he says. “We can head straight to the station and you can report what you saw. They’ll need to move on Ness fast. She’s slippery.”

“Sure, sure,” Taako says. “Let me just open _one_ more crate…”

Which, of course, is when Jenny Ness pops into existence beside her warehouse, holding a crystal that’s flashing red in one hand—an alarm, most likely—and a wand in the other. She shatters the crystal on the side of the warehouse and a _pulse_ goes through the building—a wave of magic so strong the echoes of it spread all the way to Angus’s hiding place and make his teeth ache.

Angus hears a clattering on the other side of the stone call and for a moment his heart is in his throat and then Taako swears. “Agnes, what the _fuck_ —”

“Ness is here,” Angus says, low and urgent. “Sir, you need to leave. She used some kind of spell on the warehouse and she’s coming in.”

Taako clucks his tongue in annoyance and Angus hears a sound like fabric being rubbed against the stone— Taako’s shoving it back inside his shirt, maybe. Across the street, Ness steps inside the warehouse.

“I know you’re in here!” Her voice is distant on Angus’s stone. He clutches it in his fist and eyes the boundary of the spell between him and Taako, between revealing his secret and helping his friend. “You think I don’t have this place alarmed? You can’t be militia and my crew would _never_ betray me—at least not so _badly_ —so maybe I should give you the benefit of the doubt. Maybe you just don’t know who you’re dealing with.”

Ness laughs, but there’s no humour to it. “If you come out and behave, maybe— _maybe_ —I’ll be lenient. I’m sure you’ve found magic won’t work right now already. I paid a pretty penny to a shady-ass warlock to get that guaran-fucking-teed.”

“ _Listen_ … I think we got off on the wrong foot here.”

Angus closes his eyes. If Taako’s not running, it’s because he can’t, which means there’s some kind of proximity spell woven into the alarm and whatever the warlock did for Ness. And Taako _talking_ his way out of this seems… unlikely.

There’s a moment of stunned silence, then Ness speaks again. “Are you… are you _Taako_? From _TV?_ You’re a _narc_?”

Taako makes a _deeply_ offended sound. “I am _not_. What my family chooses to do with their time has no reflection on my personal feelings vis-a-vis the law.” He pauses. “But since you’re a fan why don’t I just give you an autograph and be on my way and we’ll, you know, call it even? You can add it to your collection.”

“How about you stay _right_ where you are and we worry about autographs later?” Ness’s voice is cold as ice. “I don’t care _who_ you are. I don’t take kindly to people poking their noses in my business and I seem to have you at… something of a disadvantage, wouldn’t you say?”

“I appreciate the theatrics,” Taako says. “But—really? I’m _Taako_. You can’t exactly make me _disappear_ and if you tried it, let me tell you—I’ve got some people on my side who’d be _real_ pissed.”

“I’m not going to kill you. I’m not an idiot,” says Ness. “But I can be clear of here in under an hour and there are people out there who’d pay a pretty penny for blood from one a member of the IPRE.”

Angus hates this. It’s like being back at the Bureau during the Crystal Kingdom debacle or when the Reclaimers got their stones destroyed after Wonderland. Only _worse_ , because he’s hearing the whole thing play out, not just flashes. He knows for sure how bad it is—how much trouble Taako is in because Taako’s more or less useless in a physical fight. Taako doesn’t even have anything to hit Ness with, except maybe a stolen mithril teapot.

“Seriously, you don’t want to start messing around with necromancers,” Taako says. “I _know_ some people who wouldn’t take too kindly to it. I could call ‘em.”

“You’re not really in a place to be making threats right now, are you?” There’s a sharp crack on the other end of the call—the sound of a spell going off—and Taako _yelps_.

Angus doesn’t think—he runs. He runs, and as he exits the alley he shifts into his true, draconic form, all silver scales, sharp claws and teeth, his tail lashing against the walls of the alley as he dives for the entrance of the warehouse and barrels right through it.

Angus takes out the doors, knocking them clear off their hinges and rearing up—getting as tall as he can in a building that’s only two stories.

“Leave him alone!” Angus demands, still in his own, very distinctly prepubescent voice.

Ness looks like she might keel over at the sight of him. The wand in her hand shakes as she turns it on the biggest threat in the room—the wyrmling looming over her. “Wh-what the _fuck_ —”

“Get away from him!” Angus says, spreading his wings and ignoring the sound of a shelf being knocked over and a few dozen priceless artifacts clattering around.

There’s another loud _clang_ as Taako hits her—hard—with a _very_ expensive looking teapot and Ness goes down like a lead balloon—out cold.

Angus stares down at Ness’s slumped form for a moment, then looks up, meeting Taako’s eyes. Taako plants one teapot-holding hand on his hip and arches an eyebrow. “Okay,” he says. “Okay, quick question, and home girl beat me to it, but what the _fuck_ , pumpkin?”

Angus ducks his head, not that it helps much when he’s more than twice Taako’s height. “I, uh, I can explain, sir,” he says. “But first should we… call the authorities?”

“Sure,” Taako says. “Sure, my apprentice turns out to be a _baby dragon_ , but yes, absolutely—let’s call the militia and add another layer of farce to this shitshow.” He points the teapot at Angus and then points a finger at the teapot. “I’m keeping this.”

Angus opens his mouth to protest, but Taako levels him with another _look_ and he shuts up. They can discuss morality and legality later. At least it’s not one of the pieces from the museum. “Yes, sir.”

Angus looks down at Ness, crumpled on the ground, then back up at Taako. “Would you, um, mind disarming her and dragging her outside? There’s a ward to reveal your true form on the building and the street outside.”

Taako’s hand goes to his face reflexively, but he stops before he can touch his cheek and his blotchy skin. “I see,” he says, voice clipped. “That’s why you asked for my help.”

Angus winces because—because okay, yes, he _did_ use his relationship with Taako to his own advantage. “I didn’t mean to… I’m sorry, sir.”

Taako grabs Ness’s ankles. “Back up, Drango. I need to get the lady onto the street.”

Angus backs up, out of the warehouse, and takes out a bit of wall on the way—he hopes it wasn’t structural. He’s not sure how to read Taako right now. He’d always imagined, if he ever told everyone about him being a dragon, that he’d work his way _up_ to it—soften the blow, somehow.

This was—sudden. He just hadn’t wanted Taako to get hurt because of _him_ when he could stop it.

Angus keeps backing up along the street until he’s out of range of the spell, then transforms back into his human form. He twists his hands together, watching Taako cast a levitation spell as soon as he’s out of the warehouse.

Taako totes Ness down the street and drops her in front of Angus. “You know,” he says, “I was trying to get you to call in reinforcements, not come barging in yourself.”

Angus looks up at Taako, blinking in confusion. “What?”

“I kept _saying_ I knew people who wouldn’t take very kindly to me being kidnapped and bled. Ango. My dude. I’m dating the literal Grim Reaper and my sister and brother-in-law work for the Raven Queen. You think some shitty warlock can block their power? I don’t think so.”

Angus backtracks, going over the conversation between Taako and Ness in his head, and—yes, actually, now that he’s thinking clearly it’s _obvious_ Taako was hinting for him to hang up and call his family.

“Oh.”

“Not that cha’boy doesn’t appreciate the drama of being rescued by a fucking _dragon_ ,” Taako adds, mouth quirking up into a smile. “Did you see the look on her face? I might not even have had to hit her. She was ready to pass the fuck out just _seeing_ you.”

Taako seems… surprisingly accepting of the dragon thing, now. “You’re not… mad?”

“Oh, I’m hella annoyed,” Taako says, waving a hand dismissively. “Don’t get this twisted. I’m just also impressed with the manipulation T-B-H. Got ol’ Taako playing right into your hands, huh? Really sold the bit.”

“I’m sorry, sir,” Angus says quickly. “I didn’t mean to—“

“Oh no. You _absolutely_ did.” Taako raises an eyebrow at him. “You know I’m, like, _the_ best wizard, right? Like this ward shit isn’t my jam, but I’ve _got_ this. You could have asked me to take down the reveal self bullshit she has up.”

“I would’ve had to explain _why_ I wanted you to get rid of them, sir,” Angus says. “I didn’t… think you’d take me being a dragon this well.”

Taako snorts. “Ango. I’m now the greatest transmutation wizard in the planar system, living with Death, running the _best_ school for magic in Faerun, an interplanar celebrity, _and_ I have a fucking _dragon_ as my apprentice.” Taako spreads his hands as if to gesture towards his life. “From where I stand this is, uh, a pretty fuckin’ sweet development.”

Angus hadn’t thought of it like that. Angus wasn’t _ashamed_ of being a dragon or anything silly like that, but he preferred to stay in his human form and he liked living among people. That was a lot easier to do when everyone thought you were just a human boy and not a _dragon_ boy.

“You’re not going to… tell everyone, are you?”

“Nah,” Taako says, shrugging. “Who you wanna tell is your business. Your secret’s safe with me.” He pauses. “But I am _absolutely_ going to hold it over everyone else’s head that I knew _first_ whenever you get around to spilling the beans though. And when _I_ tell this story, I’m the one rescuing _you_ from the thief—not the other way around.”

Angus gives Taako a skeptical look. “In this story you’re… rescuing me while I’m in my dragon form?”

“Listen, don’t overthink this,” Taako says. “I can sell the bit. Now, did you want to call the militia or what? Because I don’t have all day here. I have a date with some oolong and a mithril teapot back home.”

Angus really _should_ get the teapot back from Taako, but he seems attached to it now, and Angus understands collecting things better than most. He’s a dragon—hoarding comes naturally. He just tends to prefer books to objects.

And he _did_ trick Taako into helping him.

Angus pulls out his stone of farspeech. “I’ll make the call if you take down the wards.”

“Right,” Taako says, glancing back at the warehouse. “Gotta get my face back on before the fantasy cops show up.” He reaches out and knocks the cap off Angus’s head. “But pumpkin? Next time? Don’t fucking _lie to me_. Got it?”

Angus laughs. He can’t help it. This is… the _best_ possible scenario—Taako acting exactly the same, even though he knows Angus is a dragon boy. He throws his arms around Taako’s waist and beams up at him. “Got it, sir!” he says. “No more lies, dragon’s honour.”

**Author's Note:**

> Please leave a comment and kudos if you enjoyed the story!
> 
> You can find me on tumblr at [marywhal](http://marywhal.tumblr.com) where I absolutely love it when you say hello!


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